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More journalists jailed than in nearly 3 decades

December 14 2016

Written by Faro Laz and from Overblog

 

More journalists jailed than in nearly 3 decades

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), there are currently more journalists jailed than in nearly 3 decades. Further to our story of yesterday Friend and Fellow Countryman M. Tamalt Passing Away , on and concerned by the sudden death of British-Algerian journalist in an Algerian hospital following his obviously wrongful arrest, trials and ensuing imprisonment for his alleged satirising Algeria’s present leadership on his Facebook page, we reproduce here below, an Associated Press article on the same subject but in other countries.  In the meantime, the Algerian on and offline media having amply covered the regrettable event, know that the story of Mohamed Tamalt would sadly be repeated over and over.  We also learned whilst going through the same media, that certainly not a few journalists are already held without judgement whatsoever and for reasons best known to their authors.  Is it negligence and / or structural issues linked to an outdated system that is fast degenerating. 

 CPJ: More journalists jailed than in nearly 3 decades

By The Associated Press, NEW YORK .

More journalists have been jailed this year by governments around the world than at any time in nearly three decades, primarily because of the crackdown in Turkey after a failed coup in July, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

At least 81 journalists were imprisoned in Turkey as of Dec. 1, all facing anti-state charges, said the nonprofit group that works to defend press freedoms.

“In Turkey, media freedom was already under siege in early 2016, with authorities arresting, harassing, and expelling journalists and shutting down or taking over news outlets,” said the group’s report on its annual census of imprisoned journalists.

Written by Elana Beiser, the report said a total of 259 journalists are jailed around the world, compared to 199 at the same time last year. That is the highest number since the group began keeping detailed records in 1990. The numbers do not include journalists who have disappeared or are held captive by non-state groups.

A state of emergency is still in force in Turkey following the July 15 coup attempt and the resulting government crackdown on alleged coup sympathizers has landed thousands in jail and forced tens of thousands of people from their jobs. Critics call the move a witch hunt. Western governments, human rights group and legal experts have repeatedly expressed concern over events in Turkey, which was once hailed as a model of Muslim democracy.

In a two-month period, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government detained more than 100 journalists and closed down at least 100 news outlets, the report said.

Even before the coup attempt, the rate of press freedom violations in Turkey spurred the Committee to Protect Journalists to launch last March a special diary called “Turkey Crackdown Chronicle.”

The group said that after Turkey, the worst offender in 2016 was China, where 38 journalists were in custody on Dec. 1. China had jailed the most journalists worldwide in the previous two years.

“In recent weeks, Beijing deepened its crackdown on journalists who cover protests and human rights abuses,” the report said.

Egypt was listed in third place, with 25 journalists incarcerated.

This year marked the first time since 2008 that Iran was not among the top five worst offenders. The report said that is because many of those sentenced in a postelection crackdown in 2009 have served their sentences and been released.

Online:

Committee to Protect Journalists: www.cpj.org

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/news/nation-world/national/article120546033.html#storylink=cpy

FILE – In this July 16, 2016, file photo, Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul’s Taksim square. A state of emergency is still in force in Turkey following the July 15 coup attempt and the resulting government crackdown on alleged coup sympathizers has landed thousands in jail and forced tens of thousands of people from their jobs. Emrah Gurel AP Photo

FILE – In this Oct. 31, 2016, file photo, Journalists and lawmakers hold a latest copy of Cumhuriyet newspaper outside its Istanbul headquarters after police detained chief editor Murat Sabuncu and two columnists of Turkey’s opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper and had warrants to detain 10 other senior staff members, in Istanbul, Turkey. In a two-month period, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government detained more than 100 journalists and closed down at least 100 news outlets, a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, said on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Emrah Gurel, File AP Photo

FILE – In this Friday, April 17, 2015 file photo, anti-Beijing protesters hold pictures of jailed veteran Chinese journalist Gao Yu during a rally outside Chinese central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong. In a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the group said that after Turkey, the worst offender in 2016 was China, where 38 journalists were in custody on Dec. 1. China had jailed the most journalists worldwide in the previous two years. Kin Cheung, File AP Photo

FILE – In this Nov. 22, 2016, file photo, Turkey’s President addresses police officers in Ankara, Turkey. A state of emergency is still in force in Turkey following the July 15 coup attempt and the resulting government crackdown on alleged coup sympathizers has landed thousands in jail and forced tens of thousands of people from their jobs. In a two-month period, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government detained more than 100 journalists and closed down at least 100 news outlets, a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, said on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Murat Cetinmuhurdar, Presidential Press Service, Pool photo via AP

 

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Opportunity in Government Productivity Analysis by Faro | Apr 21, 2017 | Democracy, Developed Countries, Diversification of the economy, Education & Culture, Governance, Government Policy/Regulation/Legislation | 0 comments Opportunity in Government Productivity Analysis All leaders in all countries of the MENA region would be well inspired in reading this write up of McKinsley Center for Government (MCG). It is a closer look at through a review of all sectors opportunity in government productivity analysis and in its report’s executive summary, it (MCG) as ‘a global hub for research, collaboration, and innovation in government productivity and performance’ holds that ‘its mission is to help governments and non-governmental institutions improve the lives of citizens worldwide and to help solve the world’s most pressing economic and social issues.’ In a few words, the report studied ways that productivity and opportunity for improvement in various developed countries government departments, etc. is measured. It also showed shortcomings and / or limited progress on measuring government productivity when comparing these countries’ differing performances as it were of certain obvious sectors of governement activities literally department by department. The opportunity in government productivity Governments face a pressing question: How to do more with less? Raising productivity could save $3.5 trillion a year—or boost outcomes at no extra cost. Higher costs and rising demand have driven rapid increases in spending on core public services such as education, healthcare, and transport—while countries must grapple with complex challenges such as population aging, economic inequality, and protracted security concerns. Government expenditure amounts to more than a third of global GDP, budgets are strained, and the world public-sector deficit is close to $4 trillion a year At the same time, governments are struggling to meet citizens’ rising expectations. Satisfaction with key state services, such as public transportation, schools, and healthcare facilities, is less than half that of nonstate providers, such as banks or utilities. Governments need a way to deliver better outcomes—and a better experience for citizens—at a sustainable cost. A new paper by the McKinsey Center for Government (MCG), Government productivity: Unlocking the $3.5 trillion opportunity, suggests that goal is within reach. It shows that several countries have achieved dramatic productivity improvements in recent years—for example, by improving health, public safety, and education outcomes while maintaining or even reducing spending per capita or per student in those sectors. If other countries were to match the improvements already demonstrated in these pockets of excellence, the world’s governments could potentially save as much as $3.5 trillion a year by 2021—equivalent to the entire global fiscal gap. Alternatively, countries could choose to keep spending constant while boosting the quality of key services. For example, if all the countries studied had improved the productivity of their healthcare systems at the rate of comparable best performers over the past 5 years, they would have added 1.4 years to the healthy life expectancy of their combined populations. That translates into 12 billion healthy life years gained, without additional per capita spending. It’s imperative that governments find a way to unlock that productivity opportunity. The challenge is that, until now, there’s been limited progress on measuring government productivity—even though productivity is a well-established and vital measure of the performance of national economies and private-sector businesses. As a result, it is difficult for governments to gauge the true return on spending, and debate is often focused on how to increase inputs and not the quality of outputs. Governments typically find it challenging to identify improvement opportunities by learning from other countries, or from other regions or sectors within the same country. To help close this gap, MCG built a comprehensive database and benchmarking methodology—the Government Productivity Scope—to start to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of government expenditure. MCG applied the tool across 42 countries that together make up 80 percent of global GDP, focusing on seven sectors: healthcare; primary, secondary, and tertiary education; public safety; road transport; and tax collection. The research was supplemented with insights from more than 50 interviews with government leaders and more than 200 case studies. This paper presents the first version of MCG’s analysis, which we will continue to extend and refine in dialogue with government leaders and academic experts. The initial findings point to dramatic differences in countries’ relative productivity. Even among comparable countries with very similar outcomes, the least-efficient government currently spends more than twice as much per unit of output as its most-efficient peer. And while most countries have struggled to contain spending growth, in every sector MCG found examples of governments that have reduced expenditure per unit while experiencing improved outcomes. These differences point to a tremendous opportunity for governments to boost productivity, save money, and achieve better outcomes for citizens. To realize that opportunity, though, governments need to deepen their functional capabilities in four key areas: finance, commercial, digital technology and data analytics, and talent management. As MCG shows, pioneering countries have reimagined and strengthened these functions so they play a more strategic leadership role in pursuing efficiency and improving outcomes. Across these areas, those governments have adopted an ambitious, structured approach to transform the effectiveness of the state.
Opportunity in Government Productivity Analysis by Faro | Apr 21, 2017 | Democracy, Developed Countries, Diversification of the economy, Education & Culture, Governance, Government Policy/Regulation/Legislation | 0 comments Opportunity in Government Productivity Analysis All leaders in all countries of the MENA region would be well inspired in reading this write up of McKinsley Center for Government (MCG). It is a closer look at through a review of all sectors opportunity in government productivity analysis and in its report’s executive summary, it (MCG) as ‘a global hub for research, collaboration, and innovation in government productivity and performance’ holds that ‘its mission is to help governments and non-governmental institutions improve the lives of citizens worldwide and to help solve the world’s most pressing economic and social issues.’ In a few words, the report studied ways that productivity and opportunity for improvement in various developed countries government departments, etc. is measured. It also showed shortcomings and / or limited progress on measuring government productivity when comparing these countries’ differing performances as it were of certain obvious sectors of governement activities literally department by department. The opportunity in government productivity Governments face a pressing question: How to do more with less? Raising productivity could save $3.5 trillion a year—or boost outcomes at no extra cost. Higher costs and rising demand have driven rapid increases in spending on core public services such as education, healthcare, and transport—while countries must grapple with complex challenges such as population aging, economic inequality, and protracted security concerns. Government expenditure amounts to more than a third of global GDP, budgets are strained, and the world public-sector deficit is close to $4 trillion a year At the same time, governments are struggling to meet citizens’ rising expectations. Satisfaction with key state services, such as public transportation, schools, and healthcare facilities, is less than half that of nonstate providers, such as banks or utilities. Governments need a way to deliver better outcomes—and a better experience for citizens—at a sustainable cost. A new paper by the McKinsey Center for Government (MCG), Government productivity: Unlocking the $3.5 trillion opportunity, suggests that goal is within reach. It shows that several countries have achieved dramatic productivity improvements in recent years—for example, by improving health, public safety, and education outcomes while maintaining or even reducing spending per capita or per student in those sectors. If other countries were to match the improvements already demonstrated in these pockets of excellence, the world’s governments could potentially save as much as $3.5 trillion a year by 2021—equivalent to the entire global fiscal gap. Alternatively, countries could choose to keep spending constant while boosting the quality of key services. For example, if all the countries studied had improved the productivity of their healthcare systems at the rate of comparable best performers over the past 5 years, they would have added 1.4 years to the healthy life expectancy of their combined populations. That translates into 12 billion healthy life years gained, without additional per capita spending. It’s imperative that governments find a way to unlock that productivity opportunity. The challenge is that, until now, there’s been limited progress on measuring government productivity—even though productivity is a well-established and vital measure of the performance of national economies and private-sector businesses. As a result, it is difficult for governments to gauge the true return on spending, and debate is often focused on how to increase inputs and not the quality of outputs. Governments typically find it challenging to identify improvement opportunities by learning from other countries, or from other regions or sectors within the same country. To help close this gap, MCG built a comprehensive database and benchmarking methodology—the Government Productivity Scope—to start to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of government expenditure. MCG applied the tool across 42 countries that together make up 80 percent of global GDP, focusing on seven sectors: healthcare; primary, secondary, and tertiary education; public safety; road transport; and tax collection. The research was supplemented with insights from more than 50 interviews with government leaders and more than 200 case studies. This paper presents the first version of MCG’s analysis, which we will continue to extend and refine in dialogue with government leaders and academic experts. The initial findings point to dramatic differences in countries’ relative productivity. Even among comparable countries with very similar outcomes, the least-efficient government currently spends more than twice as much per unit of output as its most-efficient peer. And while most countries have struggled to contain spending growth, in every sector MCG found examples of governments that have reduced expenditure per unit while experiencing improved outcomes. These differences point to a tremendous opportunity for governments to boost productivity, save money, and achieve better outcomes for citizens. To realize that opportunity, though, governments need to deepen their functional capabilities in four key areas: finance, commercial, digital technology and data analytics, and talent management. As MCG shows, pioneering countries have reimagined and strengthened these functions so they play a more strategic leadership role in pursuing efficiency and improving outcomes. Across these areas, those governments have adopted an ambitious, structured approach to transform the effectiveness of the state.
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